Red-Eyed Wrath - Side stories
by Akyo Shiawase
Summary: A collection of one-shots, written to exercise my writing, in which you'll read about the daily life of Syo and the other characters of my main story "Red-Eyed Wrath".
1. How'd you even fell in love with me?

**How'd you fall in love with me?**

Syo let herself fall on the sofa next to her captain, throwing him into the air. She took the opportunity to move under him, so that he could fall back down onto her lap.  
«Shit! Syo, you made me drop the book!»  
«Sorry… How is your day off going?», she asked in a not-so-sorry tone while patting his back.  
Levi bent down to pick up his book before turning to her, a slightly annoyed expression on his face. «It was going pretty well before you showed up».  
«Ah? Why? I just came to say "hello"!»  
He moved off of Syo and sat next to her with his back leaning against the armrest, leaving a leg to rest on top of her. «Did you really have to send me flying?»  
«Uhm… Wasn't that fun?»  
«You're an idiot».  
«But I'm your idiot!»  
Levi mumbled something turning the pages of the volume, not paying attention to her anymore.  
For a moment, the woman looked at him like a kid looks at their crush, a stupid smile on her face while she scanned him from the bottom to the top, resisting the urge to squeeze him.  
She leaned forward to take a look at what he was reading, knowing full well that that would have annoyed him. He immediately gave her a threatening side look, backing up a little. «Would you mind?»  
«Oh, come on! What are you reading?»  
«It's the story of a very annoying woman whose body was never found…»  
Syo scoffed and crossed her arms. «If you really think I'm that annoying how'd you even fell in love with me?»  
«I found your lameness amusing».  
Syo's face became serious all of a sudden and the two of them stared at each for several seconds, untill she broke the silence with a whispered but still clear sentence. «… bitch».  
She moved quickly, stealing the book from his hands and holding it high above her head. Levi protested and stood up but didn't tried to take it back, knowing she was too tall for him to reach it. He just stood there looking at her angrily with his arms crossed on his chest, waiting for her to return it.  
Syo gave it back to him almost immediately, not wanting to piss him off too much, and bent down to kiss his forehead as she heanded it to him. «Sorry. Do you want to be alone?»  
Levi clicked his tongue but his expression had already softened a little. «You can stay, just be quiet», he said giving her a slight punch on the head.


	2. Almost Halloween

**Almost Halloween**

«Boo!»  
Eren jumped on his chair when the woman barged into room from the door behind him, yelling into his ears. The other members of the Levi Squad just looked at her, stunned.  
«Syo, why are hiding under a blanket?», Gunther asked her, raising an eyebrow.  
Syo removed the white sheet from her head and laughed at Eren's little heart attack. «Did I scare you?»  
«Sure... Now put that back, before it gets dirty». Listening to Gunther, she folded the sheet and placed it on the table.  
«Have you ever heard of "Halloween"?», she asked them out of nowhere, sitting next to Petra. The woman put down her cup and asked her what a "Halloween" was.  
«My grandma used to tell me stories about the world before the titans when I was a child».  
Eren's eyes lit up as he leaned forward on the table, almost dropping the teapot. «Really?! What did she tell you?»  
The boy was always eager to learn about the outside world and the life before the titans arrival. Syo found his curiosity cute.  
«She told me that a long time ago, in mid-autumn, people used to celebrate this festivity called "Halloween". They prayed for their dead and then the kids would crave a scary face into a pumpkin to make a lantern, wear monster costumes and go out trick-or-treating».  
The whole squad seemed to be interested in her story, Oruo too, even though he was trying to look bored.  
Petra picked up her cup and asked Syo what was "trick-or-treating" about.  
«The kids knocked at every door in their town asking "trick-or-treat?", and if the person who opened the door refused to give them candies they would have played a bad trick on their house».  
Eren rested his chin on his hand and stared at the table surface, thoughtful. «That must have been fun...»  
After some seconds of silence, Erd got up and started collecting the empty cups. «Well, that was a good story but we'd better wash the dishes now. It's getting late».  
Everyone agreed and by the time they got to the kitchen, the "Halloween" story seemed already forgotten.

The day after, Eren had just finished his cleaning session and was about to go for lunch when Syo appeared before him with a big pumpkin in her hands. «Hey, Eren! Where are you going? »  
The boy tilted his head, wondering what she wanted to do with such a big pumpkin. «I'm going to eat something, and you? Where are you going with that pumpkin? Did you find a new recipe?»  
«Nope!», Syo answered showing him the knives she was holding in her hand. «We're going to carve it! Like Halloween! Do you want to join?»  
«"We"?»  
«Yes, me and Petra».  
Eren blinked a couple of times, staring at her with a surprised expression on his face. The sparkle in his eyes told Syo that he wanted to go with them. «So, do you wanna come?»  
«But won't Captain Levi be angry if he finds out we're playing instead of cleaning?»  
«Don't worry! The castle is clean enough already and if he gets mad I'll take the responsibility».  
Still a bit unsure, Eren followed her to the mess hall where Petra was waiting for them. When they entered the room, she got up from the chair she was sitting on clapping her hands happily. «Syo, you did it!», she exclaimed watching the other woman place the pumpkin on the table, next to two large bowls. «It's pretty big. How much did it cost?»  
«It was quite expensive for a pumpkin but, you know... I'm not exactly poor so buying it wasn't a problem for me».  
«Yeah, yeah. Can we get started now, Mrs. Moneybags?», Petra asked taking a knife from her hands. «This castle is so grey and depressing. Some decoration may improve the atmosphere».  
«Eren, do you want to start?»  
Eren jolted at Syo's question and asked her what he had to do. She helped him and Petra to cut the top of the pumpkin and empty it, pouring its inside in the bowls. She would have used it to prepare a good soup later.  
By the time they had finished carving, the table was a mess.  
And so were they.  
Petra looked around for something to clean her hands but found nothing. «Ah! I forgot to take a cloth before we started».  
«We'll have move to the bathroom to wash our hands, then». Syo looked at both her companions before running away. «Race you to the bathroom!»

Coming back, they noticed the trail of drops they had left from the mess hall to the bathroom.  
Everyone agreed to clean that up later and put some candles inside the carved pumpkin. After lighting them, they took a few steps back to better admire their creation.  
«We made a total mess on the table and the floor but... the result is not bad!», Petra noted.  
«Yeah! And it was kind of fun, too!», Eren agreed. «We should clean now, before the Captain comes back». He was about go take something to clean when his stomach let out a loud growl. The boy massaged his belly, laughing embarrassed.  
Syo ruffled his hair getting an annoyed grunt from him. «Are you hungry, kiddo?»  
He waved her hand away but admitted to be quite hungry. They still had to have lunch, after all.  
«Well, it's your lucky day! Do you remember what people used to do on Halloween, after making pumpkin-lanterns?»  
«They ate candies...», he answered reluctantly.  
«Yep! Wait a second, I'll be right back!»  
When she came back, Petra and Eren were waiting for her sitting on the wide window sill. They jumped up when Syo entered the room with a pie in her hands.  
«Is that a jam pie?», Petra asked with teary eyes while Eren was staring at it like he hadn't eaten anything in months. «I don't even remember the last time I had one!»  
Syo picked up a knife from the table and walked to the stairs. «Why don't we go eat it on the roof? It's a beautiful day outside».  
«Sure… Ah, be careful! You're crumbling all over the floor!», Eren warned her, trying to catch the crumbles before they could fall on the floor.

Petra sighed, waving her legs over the edge of the bulwark. «So peaceful...»  
Eren rested his chin on his hand, looking at the horizon. «Yeah, I wish it could always be like this», he said still munching a piece of pie.  
Syo slapped the back of his head lightly, telling him to eat with his mouth closed. The boy laughed at her. «Sorry, mom».  
The three of them stayed like that for a minute, admiring the landscape in silence under the warm sun rays.  
It was indeed peaceful, there.  
Petra clapped her hands to shake off the crumbles and turned to Syo. «About that "trick-or-treat" thing, I was thinking…»  
She couldn't finish the sentence that a familiar voice caught them by surprise.  
«Oi! What are you doing here?»  
Both Petra and Eren almost shitted themselves. They immediately jumped up saluting their captain while Syo, who wasn't worried at all, remained at her place, leaning against the bulwark.«Captain! You're back earlier than expected».  
Levi's narrowed eyes didn't promise anything good. He scanned his subordinate one by one while the two youth fidgeted under his gaze.  
«Yes, Petra, the meeting ended early today. I was going to take a shit but a trail of drops led me to the mess hall. Did you have fun with that pumpkin?»  
Petra was starting to sweat, not knowing how to excuse herself.  
«Then I followed another trail. This time a trail of crumbles. And I found you lazing around here instead of doing your work. Do you have an explanation?»  
«My bad», Syo said lifting her hand. «It was me who pushed them to mess around during cleaning hours. I'll fix everything, now».  
Eren looked at her in shock, still standing stiff with his hand on his heart. He moved a little closer to her and tried to whisper. «Why are replying like this? Do you want to die?»  
«I can hear you, Jaeger!»  
«Ah! Sorry, Captain!»  
Levi gave the woman a terrifying look but she didn't feel scared at all. She was just sorry for having got her friends in trouble. And for making him angry.  
Levi's threatening gaze moved to Petra. «Why did you listen to her. You should have turned down her stupid ideas».  
She looked down, embarrassed. «Sorry, Captain. It won't happen again».  
The man pointed at the stairs behind him, ordering them to go and clean everything up immediately. They rushed back inside but before Syo could follow them, Levi told her to wait and gestured her to come closer. When she was close enough, he placed his hands on his hips and looked at her threateningly for some seconds before speaking. «Are you trying to steal the squad from me or something?»  
Syo blinked, perplexed. «What? Why?»  
«This is not the first time it happens, Masaru. You may not be a real recruit and my authority doesn't really apply on you, but don't think you can distract my subordinates whenever you want. Unless you want to watch them die in some titan's stinky mouth. They need to train if...»  
«I know, I know, sorry!», Syo abruptly interrupted him, gaining one more angry stare. «I didn't mean to cause any trouble but with everything that happened in the past few days I thought they could have used a break once in a while». Levi raised an eyebrow and Syo looked down, scratching her head with embarrassment. «Maybe you're right, I've done that a little too often lately. Even though I don't understand how all these obsessive-cleaning-sessions can be so essential for our fight against the titans».  
His eyes narrowed again at that last affirmation but she didn't really notice. «Anyway… please, let them relax just a bit longer. They have already worked hard enough this morning. I'm the one who has to clean, now! And if all this cleaning is so important to you I swear I won't interfere anymore», she promised picking up what remained of the pie and handing it to him with a soft but still awkward smile. «Do you want some?»  
She could see Levi's expression softening a little as he raised his chin to point at the stairs. «Just go before I change my mind».  
«Hah, thank you, Lee! You're a good person!», she exclaimed happily before running away. When she was gone, Levi clicked his tongue. _Lee?!_ Really? She surely had some guts.

That night, Levi left his room for just five minutes to go to the bathroom and when he came back, there was a piece of pie placed on a plate in front of his door. Next to it, a note written in a quick but still legible calligraphy. He took the note and read it.  
"Sorry for today. Here, have some pie! Don't worry, it's not a trick… I think. Actually, I'm not sure what it is. But what I'm sure about is that you certainly are a treat!"  
The line ended a small heart. There was no signature but he knew for sure who had written that. «Damn! She's so annoying!»  
Scoffing, Levi brought the dessert inside, hoping he could get some rest.


End file.
